Dave's (aka CanyonChaser) Build - 08 TRD Sport Double Cab

As of Today...

245/75R16 Falken AT3Ws - 2" Lift


265/75R16 BFG KO - 2" Lift


265/75R16 BFG KO - No Lift

For fun.


In the Beginning...
My very first pickup was a humble little Nissan Hardbody - loved that anemic little thing and put a butt-ton of miles on it.


Then moved on to bigger trucks. Until I grew tired of massive pickups with massive turning radius making them almost impossible to park. I yearned for a nice, small, fun pickup again.

Here she is the day I bought it! January 2011 with less than 20k miles. It was a lease return. I was later to learn that the original "owner" died of cancer so the truck sat unused for a year and a half.



We traded in our 05 Tundra because the moon has a tighter turning radius that that thing, and despite how nice of a truck, we never needed anything so big. As it turns out, I had a hard time parking the little Taco... Although I must admit, it would sure be nice if they put that I-Force 4.7l V8 into the Taco... But I digress.



This is part of why I must have a truck


I simply think this photo is cool




Also, check out our White Rim Trail adventure in November 2011
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/travel/186846-my-white-rim-trail-adventures.html

Video of said adventures;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIxVfpsTXQA

 

One of the very first upgrades that needed to be done was to reinforce the tailgate... I found a guy on Custom Taco's who made up a handful of these large metal plates.

So here's my install.

First I should say the quality of the plate is excellent. and well worth the extremely reasonable price, although I'm pretty sure everybody is going to have to widen the channel at the middle.Something to keep in mind if there is ever a second run.

I also think it may be a bit over-built. Based on my install, I think it would probably be better to cut some windows into the lower panel to decrease the weight a bit. As it's I think it may be overkill. But anyway...

So, my gate looks to be in decent shape, although the cross beams are all slightly bent and there this is an ever-so-slight smile in the overall gate;


I really wanted to retain the composite decking, so I sharpied out about 2mm of width off both sides and proceded to shrink mine with the use of an angle grinder and a flap wheel. This made marking the holes for drilling a snap since my composite decking now "snaps" over the steel plate.


Here's a dry-fit, prior to painting. It took more time to drill the holes than it did to trim width with the flap wheel.


So I know what you are now thinking. Will the gate still close with the added thickness. The answer is yes. But the rubber grommets get quite the squish, so I adjusted the latches on the truck bed/jam moving them as far out as they go, and as a result the gate latches nicely.

Next was paint, but the weather turned south and I had to move my project inside. I was really excited to learn that my truck now fits into my garage. The old Tundra never fit.


First, I used wax/oil pre-paint cleaner to get all the oils and residue off the metal plate. Then I primed everything with a rust-oleum primer. Don't know if the rust-olium crap makes any differenence, but I figured "why not"

I then sprayed the bottom of the plate with a paintable, rubberized undercoating, hoping this would deaden any noise or squeaking.

After that, I started with the Bed liner stuff (bottom first, then the top) The top is pictured...

Sorry for the blur. I was too lazy to go get the real camera and just snapped these with the iPhone.

two coats of this stuff before it starts to look decent, with two hours of dry time. To ward off the cold I had two electric heaters and a propane Mr. Heater aimed at the tailgate to facilitate curing.


The sun decided to show up for a few hours so I pulled the truck out to aid the curing process of the second coat.


Finally, some pre-assembly;


And the final results






I really doubt I'll have any bending problems when it comes time to load a motorcycle!

 

Once the tailgate was reinforced, I discovered the problem with the weak springs. Fortunately, I was able to get in just under the wire on the TSB.

Once I was able to put more than 50lbs in the back, it was time to solve the problem with the lack of tie-down points. So I installed a Bed-Buddy. $100 for extra bed strength and more tie-down points; whats not to love?



I also installed bicycle skewers so I could take my other road-going two-wheeled vehicles with me.

 

I love your ducati

 

Planning on a trip to Moab, I found a deal on some closeout bed tents. A great price as long as you don't mind GMC logos.



The dogs approve

 

Dealing with high performance motorcycles, I was constantly subjected to a barrage of insults about my "Fake" hood scoop. Bored out of my mind one day, I decided to make it function - I actually did the work, but was in a punchy mood when I wrote up the pointless "How-to"

I just did this over the a couple of hours, including a trip to the Home Despot for the proper size rivets for reassembly... So here-goes...

Here is the hood scoop in stock form. Pretty, but does nothing but catch and hold bugs and dirt. Neat. Yes?


First step is to remove the scoop from the hood. This involves five bolts and a Philips head screw.


This makes the hood of your truck look like this. Sure, it'll flow a lot of air, but it's quite unsightly and I suspect it'll also be really good at capturing birds and small dogs as you drive along.

(note: do not lose the white clip you see here. It goes to the single Philips screw head.)

This is the scoop out of the truck. It comes out by lifting up on the leading edge then sliding it gently towards the front of the truck.



This is the back side. Fairly unimpressive.


The plastic "bowl" is used to sandwich the metal mesh between it and the painted cowling. Three black aluminum rivets hold the whole assembly together.


To separate everything, start by drilling out the three aluminum rivets. Be very careful to not let the chuck of your drill snag on the delicate painted lip of the cowling. This will ruin it and make your truck look nappy.


Once all three rivets are drilled out, the internal black bits come out by sliding forward out of the scoop.


I suppose you could stop here and simply re-insert the cowling and again, have massive air-flow with a slightly better look, but I wanted to maintain the OEM look and discourage the capture of too much water and rubbish. So I moved forth.


I used a small screwdriver to carefully open the two-clips, then genltly wiggled the steel mesh away from the plastic backing.


Where once there was one, there is now two! So exciting. I know!


There are lots of ways to proceed at this point. Cut of the entire back of the plastic, lots of tiny little holes, laser etching of micky mouse, Red LED Cylon Eye with sound effects... I chose the simpler "big-hole" idea.

I measured as close as I could to the center of each "cell" in the plastic bowl and used a sharp awl to mark the center. Then I used the largest drill bit that would work for all "cells" and, by hand, cut the holes into the plastic.

Why didn't I use a drill? you ask. Well, thats a very good question. This type of soft plastic can catch and tear, like the grain in wood, causing the hole to creep or tear into an oval. The plastic is super-soft, so cutting it by hand allowed me to be more precise.

I had planned to stop here, but I threw caution to the wind and ended up cutting two more holes before reassembly.


I also took a nice file and cleaned up the holes a little bit, just for good measure.


The whole assembly just snaps back together.


The dogs, Sprocket and Jake, watched on in eager anticipation... Oh, the excitement of it all!


I ran to the Home Depot because I didn't have the correct size rivets (5mm/7mm), but I couldn't stand the thought of silver colored rivets, so I sprayed them black.


Then I re-riveted the three rivets using a small washer under the head of the rivet for extra measure and strength


If you look closely, despite all my efforts, the hole on the far left did creep a bit and is slightly lower than the rest. I hope I can live with the asymmetry...


Time for reassembly; This plastic bit sits on top of this. It's keyed so it really only fits one way.


Like this


There is also a small rubber bushing that sits top-center on the metal hood. Don't loose or forget this either.


Now for the hardest part.... Putting it back together. Close the hood, but not all the way, then slide the hood scoop back into place. If you push down on the leading edge, it'll snap into place nicely, but DON'T DO THIS!!! Just set the scoop in place.

Open the hood again, and carefully put the Phillips screw into place and just get it started, don't tighten it. Close the hood again. Now, you can snap the scoop back into place.

Open the hood again and tighten all the fasteners, careful not to over-tighten anything since the entire assembly is just plastic.

In case you forgot, these are where all the nuts and screw goes.


Ta Da! All back together and it looks --- well, just like it did before we started.... *sigh*


With this mod you can expect a cooler running engine, better acceleration, a crisper throttle response and a slight increase in torque and towing capacity. You can expect all of these things plus much more... However, none of them will actually come true, despite your greatest expectations.

But now, when your friends ask "Does that hood-scoop do anything?" You can stand up tall, puff your chest out and say with pride - "Yes! It does now!"

Also, I did some calculations and to the best that I can figure, allowing air to flow through the hood scoop should save 0.3848 gallons of fuel over the life of the truck. Take that Priius!

 

Thanks! I love it too. It's been a fantastic motorcycle so far.

dp

 

Not Anymore!!!!

 

looks good man keep up the moding!

 

Lookie what we have here!





Now for some new tires.

dp

 

<-------------------Jelly

 

Glad they made it safe!! Can't wait to see how they look!

 

Just got the new sneakers mounted - despite hours upon hours of research I stuck with what I knew and kept the BFGoodrich All Terrain TA's. They've always performed exactly as I think a truck tire should... But anyway....


Before:

After:


Even during.


Pictures really don't capture the wheels adequately. They look so much better in real life than in photos.





I couldn't be any happier with the final result! (Plus, I've only driven from Discount Tire to home, but I swear the 16" wheels, and taller sidewalls, make for a much more compliant ride).

dp

 

Nice truck. I love the new wheels. What tire size did you get? I'm thinking bfg all terrain on my super white trd sport too. Going to mount them on the black trd beadlock style wheel and may go with the white wall out.

 

Since they were FJ Cruiser TRD Off Road wheels, I did the FJ Cruiser TRD Off Road tire size; 265/75-16

I get an ever so slight rub with the wheels turned about 45-degrees when I go through a culvert/bump. But otherwise they fit great.

dp

 

Finally got around to installing the extra D-Ring tie down points in the front of the bed using Toyota's PT278-35054 tie-downs (which come with instructions)


Document Available Here

The look like this;


Following the instructions, I put tape on the inside of the bed to prevent splintering and to be able to make my markings. I measured 72mm from the front of the bed and 70mm from the floor. Made my first mark, then drilled a pilot hole.



Then, I used a larger bit to get the hole to the size needed.


The bolt half was then put into place and the proper torx socket located...


From behind the rear wheel well, you can just push the plastic inner fender out of the way to access the back of the D-ring.


I threaded the backing plate (that has the bolt welded to it) onto the nut, then had my wife hold it in place with a large wrench while I torqued everything down.


All done, easy-peezie, japan-easy. And Bob's your uncle.


dp

 

Where did you end up finding the rims? They look sweet.

 

On craigslist from someone who is actually a TW member. I'm very happy with how they look on the truck.

dp

 

Clean truck. I'm diggin those rims

 

Looks really nice. I like all the functional mods. Rims look sweet on the silver.